1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper cup having a large capacity for accommodating an item of a large volume, such as instant noodles, etc., and more particularly, the present invention relates to a paper cup having an integral handle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional paper cup having a handle, the handle is separately formed and bonded by an adhesive to a side wall of the paper cup. This type of paper cup suffers from defects in that, since the handle should be separately formed and bonded by the adhesive to the side wall of the paper cup, a manufacturing procedure is complicated and a manufacturing cost is increased. Also, because the use of adhesive may adversely affect the human body, a commercial value of the paper cup having the handle cannot but be degraded.
Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to solve the problems occurring in the related art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a paper cup having an integral handle.
In the present invention, an extended section is integrally formed at one end of a side wall of a paper cup, which one end is overlapped with the other end of the side wall to be heat-fused therewith. A distal end of the extended section is heat-fused to the side wall in a manner such that a remaining part of the extended section serves as a detached part which is not heat-fused to the side wall. Cut lines are formed on the detached part of the extended section to define contours of a pair of handle segments. Each contour of the handle segment is also delimited by a perforated line. The perforated line functions to prevent the handle segment from being spontaneously erected from the side wall toward a handle forming position while the paper cup is transported or stored in a place. A finger insertion opening is defined in each handle segment by punching out a portion of the handle segment, so that, by inserting a finger through the finger insertion opening, applying force to the handle segment and thereby separating the handle segment from the detached part along the perforated line, the handle segment can be erected toward the handle forming position. The pair of handle segments cooperatively form a handle at the handle forming position. Folding lines are formed on each handle segment so that reinforcing flaps are created by folding the handle segment along the folding lines. In addition, a reinforcing strip for reinforcing a structure surrounding the handle is affixed to a connecting portion of the detached part, which is located between the pair of handle segments.
By the features of the present invention, the paper cup having an integral handle according to the present invention can be manufactured in an easy manner. Also, by the fact that, at the same time when both ends of a side wall coated with synthetic resin to render waterproofness are heat-fused to each other, a distal end of an extended section for forming the integral handle is heat-fused to the side wall, a sanitary problem which may be caused due to the use of a separate adhesive is avoided. Further, since each handle segment is prevented from being spontaneously erected toward a handle forming position, convenience is improved upon transportation or storage of paper cups.